


Counting Footsteps

by LacePendragon



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Established Relationship, M/M, Mourning, Post V4E9, second love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-13 21:28:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16480076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LacePendragon/pseuds/LacePendragon
Summary: As two pairs split and head for Mistral in different directions, Jaune and Ren think of what it means to walk away from each other.





	Counting Footsteps

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written January 9th, 2017. Reposted October 31st, 2018. Happy Halloween.

One step, then two, then three, and onward and onward. The number only grew, never shrank. With each step, Ruby and Jaune headed toward the broken village, and with each step, they headed further and further away from Ren and Nora, from the safety of their team, and from the certainty that they would ever see each other again.

Jaune took a deep breath, kept his gaze on the horizon, and tried not to think about it.

But hey, two out of three wasn’t bad. All things considered, he’d count it a victory that he’d managed the first two without breaking.

“So, uh, you and Ren, huh?” asked Ruby, breaking the silence the two had fallen into. “That’s uh. I didn’t expect that.”

Jaune gave a soft, self-deprecating laugh and shrugged, trying not to move his arms too much. “Is it the guy thing or the Ren thing?” he asked.

“Neither,” said Ruby. “It’s…” She faltered, head shifting to look at the ground. “It’s the ‘Pyrrha’ thing.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah,” said Ruby. She sighed and gave a sort of half shrug. “I dunno. Just… I didn’t expect you to date again so soon?” It came out more of a question than anything else.

Jaune grimaced. He wanted to rub the back of his neck and his fingers twitched, but he couldn’t let go of Qrow’s makeshift stretcher. “We’re not really… _dating_ ,” he said. “It’s uh, kind of hard out here.”

Ruby nodded. They stepped over a fallen log. Qrow didn’t stir.

“Yeah, I guess you can’t really take him out to dinner, huh?” asked Ruby. She sighed, shoulders slumping again. “I’m… I’m glad you have each other.”

Jaune nodded, though Ruby couldn’t see it. “Me too,” he whispered.

They kept walking. Jaune tracked their movement by the movement of the sun and the steady fall of their footsteps. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something terrible was going to happen, but he also thought that might have just been paranoia after everything else that had happened in the last few months.

He wondered if Tyrian would come back. He wondered why Tyrian had thought he was interesting. Ruby, he understood now. Sort of, anyway. Her eyes were magic and she was powerful enough that she had hurt Cinder Fall – a woman so powerful even Pyrrha… Jaune shook his head.

She was gone. They would honour her sacrifice. They would make sure it was not in vain.

“So, uh, when did it happen, anyway?” asked Ruby after a long bought of silence.

Jaune looked up and squinted at her, curious.

Ruby looked over her shoulder and shrugged. “You know, you and Ren.”

“Oh,” said Jaune, feeling his cheeks heat. He looked at the ground to his left. It had small rocks and sticks on it. It was very interesting ground. “Awhile ago, I guess. We were talking one night and he um. Yeah, he kissed me.”

Ruby snickered. “That’s kind of cute.”

Jaune bit the inside of his cheek. “Yeah,” he said, quietly. “It was.”

“I swear if you give me cavities,” murmured Qrow from his stretcher. Jaune and Ruby both jumped, jostling him. He groaned. “Watch it.”

“You’re awake?” asked Jaune, voice jumping. Oh god, how much had he heard? By the comment, it sounded like he’d heard most of it. Jaune wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Was Qrow going to tease him? Or tell him that relationships in this business – out in the field – were stupid and pointless?

“You know, you two seem like you’d be good together,” said Qrow, opening his eyes to stare at the sky. His gaze flicked to Jaune, one eyebrow raised, and Jaune felt his ears flush. _What?_ “You get along well, seem like you got good chemistry, and he obviously was carryin’ a torch for ya back in Beacon.”

_What?_

“Um,” said Jaune.

“Uncle Qrow, stop, you’re embarrassing him,” said Ruby, turning her head to look at him. She smiled at Qrow, soft and sad all at once. “It’s good to see you awake.”

“Think my aura’s starting to come back,” said Qrow, his voice sort of a drawl. “Pretty sure that’s helping me stay lucid right now.” He groaned as they swayed a bit too much. “Fuck, that hurts.” He brought up his hand on his uninjured side and put it on his face. “Got a hell of a headache too.”

“We’ll get you some medicine and find a way to get you to the city,” said Ruby, her shoulders tensing.

“’Course, I’ve got faith,” said Qrow, but his expression said otherwise. Jaune pinched his lips together and said nothing. “Just…” He trailed off, shook his head, and lowered his arm back to his side. “Listen, kid, if this doesn’t work…”

“It will,” said Ruby, tightly. “You just have to have faith, Uncle Qrow. You said you did, so show it.”

Qrow sighed and looked to Jaune for help.

“What do you want us to do?” asked Jaune.

Qrow’s skin was already growing pale again, purple veins sticking out around his bloodshot and bruised eyes. “Send a message to Atlas – tell Jim, General Ironwood, tell him I’m sorry.” His head lolled to one side. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” asked Jaune.

“Uncle Qrow, you have to stay awake,” said Ruby, a touch of desperation in her voice. “Uncle Qrow!”

“Not down yet kid, don’t worry,” said Qrow. His eyes fluttered, only half open now. “Ironwood, James, he wanted to… he wanted to get married, but we were both too fucking chicken to be out in the open.” His eyes closed. “Tell him I wish we could’ve been, and that I love him.”

“Okay,” said Jaune quietly.

Qrow didn’t stir.

Ruby sniffled, a wobble in her voice as she spoke again. “We’re going to save him and then, when this is all over, we’re going to his wedding. You can take Ren and I’ll take Nora as a friend and we’ll see my sister and my team and _everyone will be happy._ ” The last part came out desperate and shaky.

Jaune said nothing.

Ruby fell silent.

Qrow groaned between them.

They kept walking.

* * *

 

Ren and Nora moved quickly up through the mountain pass toward Mistral, neither one speaking. Ren could tell Nora wanted to say something, if only because of the way she kept looking over at him, but she didn’t speak. They kept moving, climbing at a quick clip that would allow them to crest the first peak before the sun set that night.

The tension was there, lingering as it shifted from worry to frustration to uncomfortable silence. If they didn’t fix it, it would end up drawing the Grimm and with the both of them already so upset, Ren knew that he needed to change something.

“What is it, Nora?” asked Ren as they climbed, finally breaking the silence.

She looked to him, bit her lip, and shrugged. “Nothing.”

“If I didn’t believe that when we were _nine_ , what makes you think I’m going to believe that now?” asked Ren, raising an eyebrow. When Nora only looked away, looking a tad ashamed, Ren sighed. “Nora, you’re like a sister to me. I know you know I can tell when you’re thinking. So please, tell me.”

Nora sighed now, continuing to climb. “I just… I think it’s sad, you know? You and Jaune finally sorted stuff out. You got to kiss and dance under the stars,” Ren flushed. He hadn’t realized Nora knew that part, “and now you two are getting dragged apart by fate or Grimm or something. It’s stupid. That’s not how love is supposed to work.”

“Love,” started Ren, wincing when his voice cracked. “Love is a very strong word, Nora, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

Nora replied, “But you do love him.” She leaped onto a rock. “Don’t you?”

Ren faltered. “I do,” he agreed in a tiny voice. “But that doesn’t mean I’m going to tell him that, and I would appreciate it if you kept it between us.”

Nora scoffed. “Well, duh,” she said. “I’m not going go rushing back to Jaune and Ruby and go ‘hey guys, guess what, Ren’s in love with you!’.” She waved him off. “Don’t be silly.”

With a shrug, Ren said, “You’re right. I shouldn’t assume so lowly of you. I’m sorry.”

“Ah, don’t worry about it.” The two climbed in silence for a minute before Nora spoke again. “Do you think they’ll be okay?” Her voice was very small.

Ren went to say something, but he caught the look in Nora’s eye as she focused on the rocks they were climbing over. There was a tremble in her lip and in her fingertips. Her eyes were large and watery. She bit her lower lip to hide its tremble and shook her head, not looking at Ren.

“I don’t know,” said Ren in a quiet voice. It was the truth. He didn’t know. He didn’t know if Qrow would survive the night, let alone if they’d manage to find medical supplies for him. He didn’t know if Ruby and Jaune would manage to find anything, or even if they’d survive the walk. He didn’t know if they’d all signed their death warrants by separating.

The only thing he did know was that telling a girl to leave her dying uncle behind was stupid, but he couldn’t go to that village. He simply _couldn’t._

“Ruby’s strong,” said Nora. She let out a laugh that was mostly forced. “Apparently even stronger than we thought, you know?” The joke fell flat, the humour in her voice tight and wobbly, just like the rest of her. “She’ll… they’ll survive.”

Ren reached out and rested his hand on her shoulder, just as she had for him at the crossroads. “We must have faith,” he said, even if he didn’t quite believe it himself.

“Right,” said Nora, plastering on a too-tight smile. “We’ll get to Mistral, meet up with them, and Qrow will call us idiots for thinking he’d go down so easily. Then you’ll get to kiss Jaune and we’ll talk to the Headmaster and then…” She trailed off, frowning.

_And then._ It was a phrase that had haunted Ren in his dreams for months. _And then._ What did they do once they got to Mistral? What did they tell the headmaster? What if Cinder wasn’t there?

There were so many possibilities and so few of them had good outcomes. It scared him. It scared all of them.

There was a reason they never talked about anything beyond the next day or two. It was easier that way.

“We should keep moving,” said Ren. “Come on.” He led Nora forward and the two fell into silence again. As they walked, Ren tried not to think about how each step took them further from Jaune and Ruby and Qrow. He tried not to think about how as that distance grew larger and larger, the certainty that he and Nora would be reunited with their team, and the certainty that they would survive the mission ahead, grew smaller and smaller.

They kept climbing.


End file.
